Latest news with #JordanHighSchool
CBS News
20-05-2025
- CBS News
Atlas Metal recycling plant in Watts permanently closed after hazardous waste case
The troublesome Atlas Iron and Metal Corp. will permanently close its Watts recycling plant after its owners pleaded no contest to polluting a nearby school campus with hazardous materials. Father Gary Weisenberg and son Matthew Weisenberg, the owners of Atlas, are expected to be sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and fined $10,500 each. Their plea agreement also mandates that their company pay $1 in restitution to the Los Angeles Unified School District, along with $150,000 in fines and penalties. Atlas must also pay $850,000 to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the LA County Fire Health Hazardous Materials Division and the District Attorney's Office. "This outcome shuts down a dangerous facility that has threatened this community for more than 75 years," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. "We will relentlessly pursue any business that poisons our neighborhoods. Let this be a warning — if you break the law and put public health at risk, we will hold you accountable." Atlas has faced backlash for the past few years after community members claimed the recycling facility has sent shrapnel onto the school's campus and has exposed students at the neighboring Jordan High School to toxic chemicals. According to the Los Angeles Unified School District, there are dangerous levels of lead and other metals on the campus amounting to 75 times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency defines as hazardous. In 2021, the Los Angeles City Attorney's office sued the company for being a public nuisance. The City Attorney's office alleged that the campus was once evacuated after a 6-inch shard from a military device blasted 1,500 feet into the air before landing at the school Additionally, the city alleges metal fragments have been ejected from the facility onto Jordan High's campus at least eight times in 2020. Four years later, problems at Atlas continued after an explosion on Aug. 12, 2024, sent smoke into the air right before students returned from summer break for the first day of the school year. "This company prioritized profits over the community's well-being for far too long, and this shutdown presents a welcome reprieve," LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. "Let this decision send a crystal-clear message: The safety of our schools and communities is not negotiable, and no company is above the law." Atlas also agreed to clean the site, fulfill state remediation requirements and remove the container wall on its property that minimizes disruptions to Jordan High School. It must also relinquish all rights under the Jordan Downs Urban Village Specific Plan or similar entitlement for operating a recycling facility. Finally, the agreement outlines a deal where the company will execute a land use covenant preventing the site from being used for recycling or similar purposes and grants LAUSD and the city of LA the right of first refusal to any future sale of the property.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Workers discover hidden history
A chance discovery in the woods behind Jordan High School has turned up a mystery of sizeable proportions – literally. While cleaning some of the garbage and brush out of the woods behind the school, maintenance workers at the high school discovered an ornamental stone, dating back to as early as 1897, from the former Jordan High School along Varner Street that was gutted by a March 7, 1920 fire. District Maintenance Director Tom Voigt said workers discovered the stone earlier this month while cleaning the woods behind Jordan high and elementary schools. They brought a Bobcat back into the woods to bring out the massive block of Jordan sandstone – about 8 feet long, 1 foot wide and 1 foot thick. 'It was in three pieces,' Voigt said. 'We got it back together the best that we could.' The stone clearly reads 'Jordan High School' and has the date sometime in the 1890s, although the last number has broken off the stone. 'It's really cool,' Voigt said. 'You can read the letters. The letters are as crystal clear as can be. 'I would have to assume it was from the school that burnt down in the early 1900s. The question is, how did it get there?' According to a March 11, 1920, edition of the Jordan Independent: 'Fire of mysterious origin broke out in the attic of the Jordan public school building about half past ten o'clock, Sunday morning and before it was checked, some three hours later, had wrought havoc to the handsome building, causing a loss estimated at $40,000. The insurance carried totals of $18,500. Spontaneous combustion is the only way known to explain how the fire started.' After the former high school burned down in 1920, a new school was built on the site. That school was used until 1979, when the high school moved into the building that is now Jordan Middle School along Sunset Drive. While he attended the new school on the Varner site, Voigt said he didn't remember ever seeing the stone there. He said he talked to Dave Worm, a custodian at the elementary school. Worm told Voigt he remembered seeing the stone at the old school but also has no idea how it came to rest in the woods behind the new high school, which wasn't built until 2004. 'If anyone knows how it got there, we want to know,' Voigt said. 'There's all sorts of possibilities.' In the meantime, Voigt said he's also looking for advice from area residents on how to restore or repair the stone, which is cracked in three places. 'We have to figure out how we're going to cement it together,' he said. 'If we have anybody who knows how to piece back together, that would help.'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Cool Jobs: Only the tough need apply
Editor's note: This is an occasional series focusing on local residents' interesting, unusual or even oddball occupations. If you know someone with an odd job, e-mail editor@ The wildfire fighters worked fast with chainsaws. If they didn't, fire could get out in front of their crew of about a dozen, putting them in danger. Among them was Mike Riker, an 18-year-old Jordan High School football player and wrestler chosen to be part of the North Star Fire Crew in Alaska. The crew often spent two to three weeks at a time in the Alaskan wilderness after flying into isolation to work 16- to 20-hour shifts cutting wide swaths through the forest to rob a blaze of the fuel to rage on. Firefighters subsisted mostly on military-style ready-to-eat meals, carrying 50-pound packs, striking camp around three miles from their saw lines. 'Sometime's the nearest road's 100 miles away,' Riker said. Only the physically and mentally tough can make it and thrive in such a crew, where members deal with what Riker called 'long hours, little sleep and crappy food.' Some firefighters 'broke' and had to be taken back to civilization. 'They'd get sent back,' he said. Not Riker. This was pretty close to his dream job. He took a teenager's sense of invincibility to Alaska in mid-May and returned from the largest state in the U.S. feeling somewhat more finite. 'You definitely take a whole new perspective on the value of life,' Riker said. Read more in Thursday's Shakopee Valley News.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
30 years ago, squirrel cuts off power to 1,300 customers
100 Years Ago June 14, 1917 Dr. A. H. Juni will join his college dean on a hike from Wautauga, S. D. to Seattle. They will carry their tents and expect to live on 30 cents a day while on the walk. Anyone desiring to invest in U.S. Liberty Bonds can do so at the People's State Bank in Jordan. There will be no charge for this service. These bonds bear 3 1/2 percent interest annually (tax free) and will be sold in denominations as low as $50. Help your country by buying some of these bonds. Full details will be explained. Jos. Liebbert is improving his house by re-shingling part of the roof. Today is FLAG DAY. The Jordan Circle Ladies of the G.A.R. will observe the occasion by holding an ice cream social at Harmonia Hall in the evening. Ice cream, cake and coffee will be served after a program. Admission is 25 cents per person. There are many flags flying permanently in our city, but there also are a few vacancies. Join in the patriotic observance. Our nine juvenile baseball players went to New Prague on Saturday. Our boys lost a close game. It went 11 innings and was a credit alike to winners and losers. John Dennig left Tuesday to join the U.S. Marines and has discontinued his connection with the Jordan Independent. Good luck, Jack, and we are proud of you. The first pavilion dance of the season was a success with 242 paid admissions and declared a decided winner. Autos lined our streets like it was Fair time. There will be a barn dance at the Chas. Dueffert place in Sand Creek on June 17. Music by the Haering-Simon Orchestra. Everyone is invited. Contractor Sunder's crew is engaged at the erection of Mrs. Beckius' new cottage. Next for the crew will be the cottage of Jacob Krautkremer. They have the foundations already prepared. 70 Years Ago June 12, 1947 Supervised Activities of Wide Variety Will Stimulate Health, Good Citizenship; Jordan's summer recreational program will get under way Monday. All parents interested in having their children participate in the program should send the children to the high school on Monday at 9 o'clock a.m. to register so that age groups can be set up, said states Recreation Leader Kaszrowski. Last year, approximately 70 boys and girls participated regularly in the program until it was discontinued due to the polio epidemic. BAND CONCERT Saturday, June 14, in Jordan by the Jordan Municipal Band. The Jordan High School graduating class of '47 consisting of 14 girls and 13 boys ceased being high school students last Thursday evening and became alumni. That transition occurred when the class members, handsomely attired in light maroon-colored caps and gowns, received their diplomas from the hands of President Jos. H. Grams of the Jordan Board of Education at the close of Commencement Exercises in the Jordan High School Auditorium. Jordan's second baseball team, the Rockets, lost their league game on Sunday to the Frenchmen's of Minneapolis, 17 to 9, in Fairgrounds Park. The game was a regularly scheduled Minneapolis Suburban League tilt. Frank Betchwars was on the mound for Jordan, and LeRoy Voigt did the catching for the home club. Jordan was credited with 12 hits, compared to 20 for the opposition. 50 Years Ago June 15, 1967 The Jordan Brewers and the Shakopee Indians, both undefeated in the River Valley League, will battle for first place tomorrow night. Come – it should be a good game! Bev Fahrenkamp, Nancy Stocker, Mary Shotliff, Norma and Nancy Heinisch, and Martha Lucas will attend the seven-county 4-H camp at Lake Washington near St. Peter for a unique educational experience. The campers attend class sessions in recreation, electrification, crafts, nature appreciation and inspirational programs, in addition to regular recreation. For Sale – CULTURED SOD – prompt delivery and financing available – See R.C Grommesch. The state firemen's convention was held in Austin. Chief Wally Stang and Ray Joachim were delegates from the Jordan Fire Department. Larry, Harold and Russell Kiewel received the Lutheran 'God, Home and Country' award on Sunday. Miss Cheryl Barten, 18, was selected as first runner-up to the finalist in the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contest on Saturday. Janet Ruehling and Sharon Gerdes, Scott County Dairy Princesses, also competed in the contest. The Rev. Ervil Gustafson and Mrs. Howard Haferman will represent the Jordan and Lydia Methodist Churches at the Minnesota Annual Convention and Conference. They will be among 600 delegates to attend sessions at the Hamline University in St. Paul. EDITORIAL – When there is a problem to be solved or a project to be completed, too many people have the tendency to say, 'let George do it.' The trouble is that today 'George' all too often, turns out to be the federal government. 30 Years Ago June 10, 1987 Ken N. Hanson, Superintendent at Jordan High School, has resigned. His last day will be June 30. He has accepted a position as superintendent at the New London-Spicer School District. A squirrel was to blame for a power outage that affected about 1,300 Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC) consumer-members on June 2. Minnesota will raise the speed limit for only 700 miles of rural interstate highway to 65 miles per hour on June 17. Interstates 35, 90 and 94 will be designated as 65 mph areas. On other highways the present 55 mile per hour limit applies. After 22 years as secretary in the Jordan High School office, Lorraine Deutsch will retire at the end of the school year. At an all-school assembly she was escorted into the gymnasium by Bob Templin and Brian Whipps. Both Minnesota Pollution Control Agency rules and Scott County Solid Waste Ordinance require that anyone planning to burn materials on their property obtain an open burning permit from their community fire chief. There is no charge for these permits. With an 11-hit attack, excellent pitching and errorless defense, the Jordan Alers downed the Minnesota Millers 7 to 0 at the Mini-Met. The Jordan Brewers lost their third game in a row last Friday night, June 5, when Carver came to town and avenged an earlier loss and won to the tune of 9 to 5. Earlier the Plato Blue Jays came to Jordan on June 2, and handed the Brewers their first league loss of the season by a 5 to 2 margin. Thirteen boys received varsity track letter recognition at the Jordan High School. Aaron Juaire took first in the 1600 meter run with a 4:43.0 time to update a record. Minnesota ranks second in number of people living on farms. The predominant breed of dairy cattle is Holstein. 10 Years Ago June 14, 2007 It was 30 years ago that Hennepin and Scott County boards voted to finally replace the 87-year-old Bloomington Ferry Swing Bridge. Now just a few miles upstream, a similar problem has arisen on a crowded Highway 41 river crossing with no money in the budget for a new bridge. Forty Jordan art class students are part of the KATTS program. KATTS helps students develop their own artistic styles and will give them a chance to sell their work at the Jordan Art Festival on June 22-23. KATTS is 'Kids Are Telling Their Stories' through art. The Jordan City Council approved an ordinance that would restrict but also allow masseuses to operate in Jordan. The massage therapists must be licensed, comply with zoning restrictions, follow health and sanitation requirements and have hours between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. In Jordan, curfew for youth are as follows: 9 p.m. for children age 12 and younger; 10 p.m. for children 12-14; and 11 p.m. for children 15-17. On Friday and Saturday nights, each of those curfews are lengthened by one hour. The Scott County Library System and the Jordan Library announced 'Go Bananas At Your Library' as the theme of this summer's reading program. The program starts Monday and will go through Aug. 11. Minnesota Critter Getters, a Jordan company located near Valley View Road and County 9, has been hired to control wild and domestic animals. Jordan will pay $1,000 a month for services with a 40 percent return to city for impound fees. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated $3,000 to Jordan Community Family Week to help bring speakers and entertainment. The program emphasizes making good choices, self respect and respect for others. The Minnesota Valley Electric Trust and the Operation Round-up Board of Directors sent the Jordan Art Festival $100 to purchase waterproof tarps to be used in case of rain and hail at the festival. The Looking Back column is compiled by members of the Jordan Historical Society. For more information on the society, email jhcsecretary@
